diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-test.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-test.yml
index 88036d7a70..7804e814d9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-test.yml
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ jobs:
         run: python -m tests.ci.ci_policy
 
   docker-paths:
-    if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
       changed: ${{ steps.diff.outputs.changed }}
@@ -81,10 +80,17 @@ jobs:
           persist-credentials: false
       - id: diff
         shell: bash
+        env:
+          BASE_SHA: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha || '' }}
         run: |
-          git fetch --depth 1 origin "${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}"
+          # Cron and manual runs have no PR diff and never build a PR image.
+          if [ -z "$BASE_SHA" ]; then
+            echo "changed=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          git fetch --depth 1 origin "$BASE_SHA"
           # Dockerfile.rocm doesn't feed the cu13 multi-arch build this pipeline produces.
-          if git diff --name-only "${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}" HEAD \
+          if git diff --name-only "$BASE_SHA" HEAD \
               | grep -qE '^(docker/(Dockerfile|build\.py|verify_transformer_engine\.py)|requirements\.txt)$|^docker/patch/'; then
             echo "changed=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           else
@@ -92,37 +98,55 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
   # Docker PRs: build the multi-arch image first and run every suite inside it.
+  # Always runs: with nothing to build every step is a no-op and it stays off the
+  # GPU fleet.
   docker-build:
     needs: [docker-paths]
-    if: needs.docker-paths.outputs.changed == 'true' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
-    runs-on: ["h200", "2gpu"]
+    if: always() && !cancelled()
+    runs-on: ${{ fromJSON((needs.docker-paths.outputs.changed == 'true' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository) && '["h200", "2gpu"]' || '["ubuntu-latest"]') }}
     timeout-minutes: 180
+    outputs:
+      built: ${{ steps.build.outputs.built || 'false' }}
+    env:
+      # Forks cannot push to the registry, so they keep the released image.
+      BUILD: ${{ needs.docker-paths.outputs.changed == 'true' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
+        if: env.BUILD == 'true'
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        if: env.BUILD == 'true'
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
         with:
           driver-opts: |
             image=moby/buildkit:latest
             network=host
       - name: Install Python + dependencies
+        if: env.BUILD == 'true'
         run: |
           apt-get update && apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip
           pip3 install --break-system-packages typer
       - name: Login to Docker Hub
+        if: env.BUILD == 'true'
         uses: docker/login-action@v3
         with:
           username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
           password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
       - name: Build and push PR tag
+        id: build
+        if: env.BUILD == 'true'
         run: |
           python3 docker/build.py --variant cu13 --image-tag custom \
             --custom-tag pr-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }} --push
+          echo "built=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+      - name: Nothing to build
+        if: env.BUILD != 'true'
+        run: echo "No docker-relevant changes; suites use the released image."
 
+  # No `if:` guard: a real build failure must stop the suites rather than run them
+  # against a stale image.
   resolve-ci-image:
-    needs: [docker-paths, docker-build]
-    if: always() && !cancelled() && (needs.docker-build.result == 'success' || needs.docker-build.result == 'skipped')
+    needs: [docker-build]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
       container_image: ${{ steps.resolve.outputs.container_image }}
@@ -133,7 +157,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           PR_BODY: ${{ github.event.pull_request.body || '' }}
           INPUT_CI_IMAGE_TAG: ${{ github.event.inputs.ci_image_tag || '' }}
-          DOCKER_BUILT: ${{ needs.docker-build.result == 'success' }}
+          DOCKER_BUILT: ${{ needs.docker-build.outputs.built }}
           PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number || '' }}
         run: |
           CI_IMAGE_TAG="${INPUT_CI_IMAGE_TAG}"